


Stiles, I need you to say the words

by Cinder7storm4



Series: How can I trust you? [19]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dead Claudia Stilinski, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Hurt Stiles Stilinski, Gen, Good Parent Melissa McCall, Hurt Stiles Stilinski, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mentioned Sheriff Stilinski, Minor Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Neglected Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Scott is a Good Friend, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, implied child neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 09:45:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15458622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinder7storm4/pseuds/Cinder7storm4
Summary: Scott and Melissa reminisce about Scott&Stiles from back in the day, which leads to a revelation for Scott and a frantic phone call to Stiles.





	Stiles, I need you to say the words

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf. 
> 
> I listened to the Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson rendition of 'Because of You' while writing this fic.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0oenkCT8EY

Scott pulled up to his house happy the rain had stopped long enough for him to run back to school from the Stilinski house to get the car. He whistled off key under his breath as he opened the door, calling out a “Hey Mom!” when the smell of saltwater hit his nose. 

“Mom?” Scott called again, walking with purpose toward the kitchen where his mom was standing at the stove watching what looked like soup heat up. Melissa had changed out of her scrubs from earlier but her tears hadn’t stopped when she’d changed her clothes. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she was clutching a mug of tea that had long since gone cold. 

“Mom, why were you crying?” Scott came up to stand right beside his mom, pulling her in for a gentle hug, “Are you okay?”

Melissa put down her mug as Scott drew back to look at her, his face concerned and so puppy like she had to laugh. It came out as more of a watery cough, but her son had made her feel marginally better. 

“I had a… John drove me home earlier and it didn’t go well,” Melissa sighed and pushed off from leaning against the counter to turn down the heat on the stove. 

Scott’s brow furrowed. He was torn because he understood that the Sheriff was angry, especially with those who said they were looking out for Stiles when they weren’t, but this was also his mom, his rock. Before he could decide how to react Melissa spoke again, “It’s not like I didn’t expect it, Scott. This isn’t on you. I chose to not pull John into the loop.”

“But mom, I was the one who asked you…”

Melissa cut him off, putting up a hand “I’m the adult here, Scott.”

She turned off the stove, and Scott went to grab some bowls. They ate quickly and in relative silence, but when Scott went to clear the table Melissa stopped him. He sat back down, and leaned in when she tugged him into a side hug, holding him fiercely as if her love could protect him and them from anything. 

“How bad is he, Scott? How bad is it?” Melissa murmured her question quietly as she hugged him.

Scott pulled away slowly “It’s, before today I probably would have said it wasn’t that bad, but after today,” he shook his head “It’s really bad, mom. I think the Sheriff’s right to be worried.”

“I think all four of us should sit down, soon” Melissa spoke slowly, “Although I suppose John and I should be able to sit in a room without issues before that happens.”

“I’m trying with Stiles, mom, but… I have a lot to make up for.”

“We both do, but we’ll do it together, okay?”

Scott nodded and hugged his mom again, his wolf settling again in proximity to his mother.

“I love you, mom.”

“I love you too, Scott.”

After pressing a kiss to Scott’s head, they separated and Scott set about washing the dishes, his mom waiting beside him to dry them. 

“I’m back with Allison,” Scott said after a few moments of silence. 

He could feel his mom’s surprise, “Really?”

Scott nodded “But she knows that I need to fix things with Stiles first. She’s making what Stiles would probably call ‘friendly overtures’ to him too.”

“And it’s going well?”

“It has only been a day or two, but I guess so… and she’s pack now so, it makes sense that we should all at least be friendly if not close, right?”

“Allison’s pack? Because of you?”

Scott shook his head “A few months ago I probably would have assumed that, but no, I’m not that dumb. She made the decision for the future of the Argent clan,” he paused, “not that they know that yet. I do think she’ll tell her dad though.”

“Is that safe?”

“Allison trusts him.”

“And you?” 

“I trust Allison. And Stiles. He doesn’t think Chris is a threat the same way the rest of the family are.”

“You’ll keep me updated?”

“Yeah, I will” Scott dried his hands and turned toward his mom, suddenly finding his hands super interesting, “I haven’t always been good at that, have I?”

“Well,” Melissa responded drawing out the syllables in the word, making Scott grin and look up at her, “I’m not saying there isn’t room for improvement.” Scott nodded, shaking his head at her and then, after another quick hug he went upstairs to work on his homework. 

Melissa made herself another cup of tea, lavender and mint, soothing and settling; she tried to remember when she’d bought something that wasn’t a no name brand when she recalled that the fancy tea had been a gift from Stiles after a particularly bad supernatural week. He’d just left the box on her table, and when she’d questioned Scott about it he’d told her it smelled of Stiles, but wasn’t dangerous. She’d opened it to see not only the tea, but a note thanking her for patching them up all the time. 

She picked up her tea thinking about Stiles’ kindness, and how he’d distracted her from thanking him the next time she’d seen him. Melissa settled herself in the living room with a few photo albums and started flicking through memories from when Stiles had first met Scott. 

After an hour or two, Scott’s feet sounded on the stairs again “Mom, you okay?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, I’m good.”

Scott came to sit next to her on the couch “What’re you looking at?”

“Photos of you and Stiles.”

“Remember this one?” Scott asked, pointing to a photo that had been taken a little over seven years ago, it had been taken when Scott had had an intense asthma attack after Stiles had passed out with a really bad fever at school. They’d ended up in side by side hospital beds and at one point, before John had finally been able to make it to the hospital, Scott had crawled into Stiles bed to keep watch over his friend. 

“John said something today, about things happening to Stiles after Claudia, things that he did… that would have been around this time. I always wondered how his fever got so bad; why didn’t he stay home?” Melissa’s voice was quiet, unsure that she wanted to pursue the line of thinking her mind was coming up with, “Do you know what he might be talking about, Scott?”

Her son bit his lip, seemingly wracking his brain for anything; he opened his mouth then closed it again.

“Scott?”

“Dad said something to me once, something about how the Sheriff wasn’t looking after Stiles and that I should stop hanging out with him because drunks’ kids often end up as troublemakers.”

Melissa felt a shiver go down her spine.

“I remember asking Stiles if everything was okay and he was so defensive. I took it as him being honest, but I don’t know if he was telling the truth. I haven’t smelled alcohol in the house though since I turned… except”

“Scott?”

“There was a morning where Stiles tried to keep me out of the house but eventually, he couldn’t keep me outside any longer and the kitchen smelled like bleach. He told me he’d been cleaning the cupboard and dropped a bottle of his dad’s whisky. He lied, but I didn’t think it was that important, I thought maybe he’d snuck a bottle or something and needed to cover his tracks.”

Melissa sighed heavily, closing the album and placing it on the coffee table “Sweetheart, I need you to think now… Did Stiles ever have bruises or injuries that he couldn’t explain? Remember how he used to look when his mom was sick?”

Scott nodded, then his entire body froze and his eyes went wide “Did his mom,” he flexed his fingers, feeling the tips of his claws “Did she hurt him?”

Melissa looked at him “I thought he would've...”

“You thought he’d tell me?” Scott laughed hollowly, “Wait? You don’t think his dad?”

Melissa sighed again “I don’t know, Scott.”

“Well, then I need to ask him!” Scott jumped up from the couch, intent on running over to Stiles' at that moment, the only thing that prevented him was his mom putting herself in his path.

“Scott! Scott!” she stood still as Scott worked to get himself under control “I’m not saying anything, but I just need facts. I don’t think John would bring something like that up in front of me knowing my duty as a health-care professional to report it, but he was angry and scared. I just want the facts.”

Scott was still breathing heavily but he was back from the precipice between human and shifted. 

“I don’t know, I don’t know, mom,” he was shaking, “Mom, I need to know that he’s okay, that he’s safe there. I can’t…”

“Scott, it’s late…” Melissa trailed off, she was anxious too. On the one hand, she didn’t want to believe that John was capable of hurting Stiles, but he’d already alluded to something in the car, “Call him, don’t give him too many specifics, but just check in, okay? You'd be able to tell if he's lying over the phone right, with your hearing?”

Scott nodded after a moment of hesitation, pulling out his phone and pressing 1. Stiles was always his first call. After two rings, he could feel his anxiety mounting again and his mom’s nerves weren’t helping him at all either. 

“Scott, you okay?” Stiles’ voice came through the phone and Scott found himself whining in relief, “Scott?” Stiles’ voice was more alert than it had been moments ago, “Where are you? Are you okay?”

Scott pulled his wolf under control “I’m, I’m okay. Stiles. I’m at home. Pineapple,” a laugh came through the phone.

“Ugh, Scott, that was the worst code word we ever came up with, we retired because of its lameness, remember?” Stiles sounded tired but okay, still Scott needed to hear him say it. 

“I, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m home, Scott, what kind of trouble could I get into here?”

“So, you’re safe?”

“Again, buddy, I’m home. In my room. Not out chasing supernatural creatures.”

“Stiles, I need you to say the words.”

“Scott, you’re freaking me out a bit. Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“Stiles, can you just, tell me if you’re safe, please?” the whine was back in Scott’s voice and Stiles wanted to do anything he could to make his friend feel better, “Yeah, Scotty, I’m safe.”

Scott listened, and let out a deep breath as Stiles’ heartrate stayed calm. 

“Want to tell me what that was about?”

“I just needed to check on you,” Scott responded, not willing to go into the reasoning for his freak-out over the phone. 

“Is this going to be a nightly occurrence? Because I’m about to go to sleep, Scott.”

“I don’t think so, my wolf’s just a bit unsettled right now, sorry…”

“Hey, hey,” Stiles soothed Scott, “It’s all good. I know checking on pack is a thing. I should probably let you go to check on everyone else." Stiles paused, then murmured, "Thanks for calling, goodnight Scott.”

“Night, Stiles.”

Melissa watched her son hang up “Well, now he thinks I’m getting an urge to check on the whole pack, but maybe that’s good. Maybe he’ll let me check on him more if he thinks it’s something I need,” Scott rambled then shook his head to clear it “No, I’m not going to lie to him.” Looking to his mom he told her that Stiles hadn’t appeared to be lying, and while he knew in his heart that if anyone could learn how to lie to a werewolf it would be Stiles, he had to hope that his best friend was telling him the truth or else he’d run over to the Stilinski house right now and take Stiles away. 

“Stiles is coming for dinner tomorrow night,” Scott remembered making the offer earlier in the day.

“I think I’ll go see John then, you two can eat here and I can get some answers, okay?” 

“Mom, what if…?”

“We’ll take care of him, if it comes down to that, Scott. I promise you that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please note, it is my personal headcanon that the Sheriff never systematically hurt Stiles physically. I think he probably got very angry; he broke things, maybe even threw things at Stiles, but aside from perhaps one instance, he never touched Stiles violently. Most of Stiles' issues stem from the emotional weight and pain of what he has internalized over the years.


End file.
